PLAYER OF THE WEEK

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Ian Graves (Belboz).

Who are you?I’m Ian Graves, aka Belboz. In case you are wondering, Belboz is a character in a couple of interactive fiction games I played when I was a teenager.

Where in the world do you live?Adelaide, South Australia, about a 10 minute drive north of the CBD and Adelaide Oval.

How long have you played Munzee?Since October 23, 2015.

How did you find Munzee?
I saw a post on Facebook in a Fitbit group, downloaded the app, and walked to a local park to find my first munzee. That’s me in the photo lying on the ground about to capture my first munzee!

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?Chasing myths, deploying physical munzees, Clan Wars, events, badges, Munzee Physical League (MPL). And more generally, the fact that there are so many ways to play Munzee, so there is a scope for all players from beginners to high level players to pick a goal and chase it.

What is on your wish list?Aside from visiting some of the big Munzee cities, I have heaps of things on my wish list — the top 3 are:

More Nomads and the ability to capture them on your own munzee.

The ability to link a generic to a damaged or missing munzee IF it is hosting a bouncing special and IF the owner is dormant or inactive.

More badges for deploying physical munzees, and make them challenging, say around 10% of the corresponding capture badges (i.e. deploy 1250 non-blastable Jewels).

Tell us about yourself!I’ve been married for 20 years (yay!), and have a 15-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. Most of our family is in Tasmania, and I’ve been in Adelaide for just over half of my life. I work in Defence R&D which sees me frequently in Canberra. I have an honours degree in Maths and have worked in a number of fields, including operations analysis, biometrics, and risk management.

Any last words?Thank you to whoever nominated me; it is appreciated. Also, a big thank you MHQ for continuing to evolve the game. And, finally, to everyone reading, I encourage you all to play your own way (an join the MPL)!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Leslie Burg (MrsHB31).

Who are you?I’m Leslie Burg. My Munzee name is MrsHB31.

Where in the world do you live?I live in the United States in the town of Wesley Chapel, North Carolina which is located just outside of the city of Charlotte.

How long have you played Munzee?I’ve been playing Munzee for about 5 1/2 years. I capped my first munzee in August 2012.

How did you find Munzee?
I discovered Munzee through a contest held by our local caching club. The contest involved alternative location-based games which introduced me to a few interesting games. The only one that stuck was Munzee!

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?I enjoy chasing Mythologicals and other expiring specials. I also enjoy meeting other players at events. I have met some really great people through Munzee.

What is on your wish list?I would like to see a feature in the app that would allow me to see areas that are blocked by existing Destination Munzees to help locate areas where new Destination Munzees can be added to the map.

Tell us about yourself!I am an elementary school teacher, mother of two teenagers, and wife of 20 years to another Munzee fan (can you guess his username?). While my kids have not been bitten by the Munzee bug, my husband and I enjoy travelling to events and munzee-heavy areas with our camper and even deployed on a few Caribbean islands this summer.

Other hobbies include:
My other hobbies include boating, traveling, and following NASCAR.

Any last words?I’m looking forward to seeing whatever new twists Munzee plans to throw into the game in the future. I also want to thank whoever nominated me — I am very honored to be Player of the Week!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Kala Brooks (OHail).

Who are you?My given name is Kala Brooks. My player name is OHail.

Where in the world do you live?Montgomery, Alabama in the southeastern part of the United States.

How long have you played Munzee?I celebrated my 6th Munzee birthday in August 2017.

How did you find Munzee?
I am a member of the Houston Forum for another game. One of the members mentioned a new game named Munzee that was just starting up in July 2011. My first thought was, “No, no, no! I am not getting involved in another geolocation game.” (I was already participating in several others at the time.) I managed to resist until August when one of the local cachers deployed a munzee.

Back then, the game was more labor intensive than it is now. We printed and laminated the green munzees in preparation for deployment. We usually attached them to the host with clear packing tape. (My last one of that type was replaced a few months ago.) Phone GPS was not too accurate, either. Most times, we would have to adjust the position once we got home to the computer. Consequently, I only played when I happened to think about Munzee. That was not very often for the first year or two. Once I started playing semi-regularly, and because there were just a handful of players in the area, we also had to plan the best way to use our few, but growing, munzee deployments in the most advantageous way for clan requirements each month. Boy, have things changed since those days!

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?I enjoy many aspects of the game. I like the strategy in playing the game. On bad weather days, I can spend hours in the sandbox determining where to place accommodation or other type munzees for maximum deployments in an area. I love finding the little holes that are left when quick deploys are not concentrated as much as they could be.

I like earning badges and playing with rovers.

Most of all, I have been quite fortunate to meet some really wonderful people from all over the world by attending events or swapping munzee placements.

What is on your wish list?There are some places that have been on my vacation wishlist long before I hunted containers and munzees. Since I have visited all 50 US states, it is time to think about traveling abroad. There is so much I want to see and do in Australia (Harbour Bridge Climb in Sydney, for one), New Zealand, Prague and Budapest, to name a few. (I might even be able to find a munzee or two in those places to keep my capture and deploy streaks going. 😀 )

Munzee related wish list:

I would like to see more done with Rovers. Some ideas are a drop down menu or radio buttons with an ability to make multiple Rover selections so that one can set more than one rover on a trip at once instead of one at a time. It would be helpful for lone travellers if one could move Rovers without an intermediate player after a certain time and/or distance has passed (48 hours, 100 miles?). Intermediate badges for moving Rovers and badges for owners with rovers that have attained certain levels and traveled particular distance levels.

The Glitch Badge

Filters:

On for all types in the app by default.

Filters for the web site map similar to those in the app.

A way to set a filter for a blast to capture only certain types like everything except Flats, or only Flats, only MVMs, or any combination chosen by the player.

Intermediate badges for greenie deploys. Badges for having a variety of deploys like the Specials Hunter badges are for captures.

A different or variation of the yellow color icon for a munzee one puts into soft maintenance so that one can tell whether the munzee is in soft maintenance or full maintenance mode when looking at the map.

Did I say I would like to get the Glitch badge?

Allow Myths and Specials to land on Accessibility Munzees.

Most of us probably did not expect the creative and beautiful gardens that have been produced using the various types of munzees. Just think what we could see with more color options for the MVMs like a true light blue, gray, pale yellow, and others.

A name or some other change to an accommodation munzee flows through to the rooms.

Tell us about yourself!I am a retired corporate tax auditor who used to travel all of the United States for business. That experience has come in handy now that I travel for fun from time to time. I hope to visit some places I have never been. It is delightful seeing and learning about new areas and cultures.

I am part of the local player group with started the annual Alabama River Region Easter events. We were privileged to have so many great players from all over the United States for our 2017 events. We look forward to seeing them again the weekend of April 5th, 2018 and invite all players to come see what Alabama has to offer.

Other hobbies include:
I have fun cooking all types of food and trying new recipes. Fishing is very relaxing to me whether I catch anything or not. Being near/on the water while listening to the sounds of nature is soothing. I like bird watching and attempting to identify nearby birds from their calls. Occasionally, I get lucky and can combine fishing and bird watching. For the last decade, it has also been possible to see me hunting for hidden containers for hidden containers using my GPSr.

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Ilpo Metsänkylä (tcguru).

Who are you?My name is Ilpo Metsänkylä, Munzee name tcguru.

Where in the world do you live?I live in Raisio, southwestern Finland, right next to Turku. I may be bragging a little, but Turku is definitely the Munzee capital of Finland!

How long have you played Munzee?A few weeks ago, I turned 1,000 days, so a little less than three years. Before joining a clan in December 2015, my playing was not very intense, but since then I’ve been pretty hooked.

How did you find Munzee?
My good friend in Stockholm, Sweden, Mike a.k.a. soderhallen, introduced the game to me in March 2015. Thank you Mike! He had started a bit earlier. At the time, I didn’t even have a smartphone. I had to start off with my iPad.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?Two things come to my mind at first: the physical part of the game and events. Finnish weather is not exactly the nicest when it comes to making long walks scanning Munzees, but I like it anyhow. If I may brag a little more, in 2017 I was #1 in our “Finnish physical league” the majority of months. Attending and hosting events is also something one waits for a long time in advance. The only problem is that it’s so nice to meet other players and chat with them, that I often don’t have enough time to scan all the deploys around the event area. I want to thank everyone who has deployed virtuals at our events in Turku. Keep ‘em coming, and we’ll keep scanning them!

What is on your wish list?First is some kind of promotion for the physical game. The virts are worth so much more than most of the physical game pieces that many players ignore the physicals, at least when it’s not necessary for clan war. I don’t know if it’s possible to change the point structures of certain Munzees, for ex. the Premium Munzee, but I would welcome such a change. Imo, it’s good that many badge lines extend as far as they do now, so there are still some goals left to achieve. Especially on myths, one of my goals this year is to get the badge for 1,000 unique Unicorns. I wish there was some more badges for capping rooms at Destination Munzees, 100 rooms is something I’ve accomplished a long time ago on each.

Tell us about yourself!I’m a 45 yo mathematics teacher at a local high school, since 1999. My fiancée Päivi (Munzee name Hiipop) and I live in a house which was just built in the last 24 months. It’s almost ready, but of course there’s a whole lot to do with everything at the house. I’ve lived all my life in Turku and its neighbor cities, but in 1988–1989 I spent a year in Columbus, OH, where my father worked at the OSU. I must say I really enjoyed the sophomore year at a local high school there!

Other hobbies include:
I’ve been a collector of different things for all my life. It started with stamps when I was around 5 yo. During the 1990’s phonecards were hot, and I’ve got quite a collection of them. Music I’ve been listening to almost forever, but unlike with many music enthusiasts, cd’s are my format. Those I’ve also been collecting and have quite a few.

Any last words?Thank you to everyone at MHQ for this wonderful game. Without it, I would be walking and riding my bike remarkably less than I now do, so I’m in pretty good shape these days. Also big thanks to everyone who nominated me, this was really a nice surprise. Let’s all make 2018 the best Munzee year so far!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Rod Myers (Rodrico101).

Who are you?My name is Rodrico101, a.k.a. Rod Myers.

Where in the world do you live?I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA in the heart of the midwest.

How long have you played Munzee?I started playing May 25, 2015, but wasn’t really hooked until I attended my first event on July 4th that year.

How did you find Munzee?
I was caching and writing on the log when I noticed the previous log said “bonus Munzee nearby”. Being curious, I went home and did a search. I thought it looked like fun and downloaded the app.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?I enjoy the new friendships I’ve made. I’ve met people from all over the world and have had the privilege to meet some of you face-to-face at events. Munzee has also given me a reason to do more outside. My kids, Lane (Magnacharge) and Gabby (Gabbster) play as well, and it gives us the opportunity to hike trails more, search for things while on roadtrips that we may have never found, and do more as a family.

What is on your wish list

I love to build gardens. I would love to see an “official” player-built Munzee garden list, complete with a link on the website. Along with that, I’d like to see some sort of POI-type Munzee that could be added to these gardens as perhaps a cornerstone or part of the design.

I enjoy the Evolution Munzees and would love to see some new creative types that can be capped more than once.

I’d like to see a ZeeOps only special reward (player deployable icon) for playing the Ops, much like clan weapons are to Clan Wars.

Tell us about yourself!I’ve lived in the midwest my entire life. I went to college with the intent of becoming a math teacher but was offered an entry-level management job at the retail store I was working for. Thirty some years later and various management positions, I’m still there. I have two great kids that remind me every day what life is really about.

Other hobbies include:
I’ve always had a love for photography, first with film, and now with digital, which lead to a love for Photoshop and digital creativity. Music has always been an important part of my life. I play guitar and bass and have had fun in various bands over the years.

Any last words?Thanks to Munzee and the friendships I’ve made. A special thank you to those that nominated me. I’m looking forward to what the new year will bring. Keep an eye on the event schedule, and come visit us!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Debbie Sargent (MsYB).

Who are you?My name is Debbie Sargent, aka MsYB.

Where in the world do you live?I live in Salt Springs, Florida just inside the Ocala National Forest.

How long have you played Munzee?Even though my membership started in December 2014, YankaBucs (my husband) and I actually started Munzeeing in August 2011. After we capped the munzees within a few hundred miles, we decided to put the Munzee world on hold. Almost two years later, during a gathering, one of our friends showed us his new Premium Membership gold star. So we downloaded the app and started capping again. After sharing an account for quite a while, I made the decision to create my own account so both of us could enjoy capping at the same time.

How did you find Munzee?
Through Dale (DalenBarb) at one of the caching events.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?It gets me off of the couch! I enjoy attending events, Clan Wars, and, of course, working on the badges!

What is on your wish listA badge for capping greenies and being able to attend a Bash.

Tell us about yourself!I’ve recently retired and look forward to every day being a Saturday (lol). I have been married for 39 years; two children, one stepchild, and five grandchildren (of which four of them have Munzee accounts, and all of them enjoy searching out the stickers versus virtuals).

Other hobbies include:
It seems most of my time is spent Munzeeing, but I also enjoy traveling, taking pictures, and decorating cakes.

Any last words?YankaBucs and I have watched MHQ grow — and what a find job you all are doing! I also want to thank my friends that nominated me for POTW — this is truly an honor! THANK YOU!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Michael Preston (Batmun).

Who are you?My Munzee name is Batmun, aka Michael. I am a massive Batman fan and loved how I was able to theme the name in with Munzee.

Where in the world do you live?I live in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

How long have you played Munzee?I’m currently 922 days old, starting at the end of May 2015.

How did you find Munzee?
By accident. The family was out and about, and we saw a Munzee sticker and scanned it. We looked it up, and it looked like lots of fun. I never got points from the first one I scanned and have never been back to it. One day I will. 🙂

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?It gets us out of the house and exploring the world. We have met a few people in our local area and were lucky enough to meet Rob at an Australia Day event earlier this year. I was glad I learned about the clans as it keeps us active every month.

What is on your wish listAt the moment, I’m trying to get all of the mythologicals in one day (greedy me). I have 7, but trying for them all. The few magnets I have might help that. I love the idea of ZeeOps, but I think there needs to be a little more variety in it. Something like cap a mythological, log a Munzee coin, depending on what day of the month you do the task, cap that many munzees in the day or deploy that many. I’m also trying to win the Friday Giveaway. 🙂

Tell us about yourself!I absolutely love the outdoors and everything in it. I love to mountain bike, take the family (2 kids and a beautiful wife that puts up with my adventures, she might be reading this 😉 ) on adventures to places we have never seen before and kayak. I’m passionate about trying to help the environment, too.

Other hobbies include:
Hiking, exploring, and I’m a cacher, too.

Any last words?Thanks to Munzee for what they give back to the game and to us. It’s been great to meet and play with the others that I have met along the way, and I look forward to meeting many more.

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Steve Stuart Sr (OldSchoolSkater).

Who are you?I’m OldSchoolSkater, a.k.a Steve Stuart Sr. My buddies call me Smooth or Smoothy, a nickname I got from the way I ride my dirt bike which apparently looks “smooth” to them.

Where in the world do you live?In the small town of Laurel, Delaware USA, located on the Delmarva Peninsula.

How long have you played Munzee?Since April 9th of 2013.

How did you find Munzee?
I was at a gathering of “ammo can hunters” when HiTechMD told us about this other game with stickers, and he even put a “blue one” outside of the the restaurant. Well, several people signed up and canned it while I just watched. I guess I was just too stuck on “ammo cans” at the time. Then, after a few weeks of wondering about this “blue sticker” less that 1/4 mile from my house, I decided to sign up and scan it, thus beginning my addiction to Munzee. 🙂

P.S. – Curiosity got me, so I just looked up that first capture, and here is the comment I left: “OldSchoolSkater – “my FIRST munzee… thanks HiTechMD for adding a new adventure for me… now if I get addicted to this it’s all your fault :)” – Found It”

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?This community of players is very friendly & helpful overall, and I’ve gained some good friends along the way. I really enjoy chasing Mythologicals and other “expiring specials” and will capture them at all hours of the day and night when they land around town. I also really enjoy Munzee for the goals I can set and achieve as I play the game. I like earning badges and doing ZeeOps missions as well as completing the monthly clan requirements.

What is on your wish list

Air and Water Mysteries with an increased ability to attract their Mythologicals.

The ability to save 2-3 different filter set-ups so that we can easily toggle between custom filter settings on the app.

Additional filters on the website map for Only Physicals, Only Virtuals, Only Greenies, Only Clan Weapons, Only Jewels, Only Elementals, Only Destinations, Only Evolutions, Only RUMs, and Only Zodiacs. (I find it much easier to plan my Munzee trip on the laptop.)

Tell us about yourself!I’ve been in the window, door, skylight, and sunroom trade for over 30 years. I started as a Pella Service Tech for 15 years before becoming a conservatory (European style sunroom) Service Tech and Installer. I’m used to climbing around on glass roofs with suction cups (similar to Spiderman). Unfortunately, I fell about 11′ (3.3m) onto concrete one dat at work and shattered my heel. No, 4 surgeries later, I’m still trying to get “back on my feet”.

I have a knee scooter that I use to get around for capping and deploying. I think it’s actually quicker and easier than walking, even if both feet were in good shape!

Any last words?Many thanks to those players who were kind enough to nominate me for POTW, it is truly an honor. I’d also like to thank everyone from MHQ for all the hard work they do to keep Munzee fun and interesting to play.

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Connie Gunderson (cgund).

Who are you?I’m Connie Gunderson; cgund on Munzee.

Where in the world do you live?I live in Littleton, Colorado.

How long have you played Munzee?I started plaing in April of 2015.

How did you find Munzee?
I saw a link on Dale and Barb’s store (Space Coast Geo Store) when I was looking for caching supplies and clicked away. Then, I was talking to a local player about caching, and they endorsed Munzee, so I ran out, upgraded my phone, and downloaded the app.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?For sure the friends I’ve made, hands down. Most of the local players have become good friends, and it’s been fun to be a part of that social circle. Munzee has also given better focus to my days. Before Munzee, I would sometimes let my days fritter away without being productive or even getting out of the house.

What is on your wish list?How about some kind of neon outline around Clan Weapons on the app’s map? They are virtually invisible when satellite mode is in use.

I hope MHQ, with help and support from the player base, can come up with better ways to recruit and retain players, too. I do my best to welcome and assist new players when i see activity in my feed, and I think that I’ve been a pretty good ambassador to the game, but it’s not enough. I do think more focus on new ways our community can help itself grow would be time well spent.

Tell us about yourself!I am a stay-at-home-mom these days after having had a variety of careers in the past, including VP of a nutrition bar company, discover paralegal at a toxic torts firm, court-appointed conservator for mentally ill indigent persons, and classical musical specialist and buyer at Tower Records. My husband of almost 25 years is an aerospace engineer at Lockheed, and we have one son. We lived in California for most of our lives but find that Colorado suits us very well since moving here almost exactly 10 years ago.

Other hobbies include:
I like to cache, read, do needlework, go to Rockies games, play Euro-style board games with my kid, and my son and I are pretty heavily into Pokemon Go, too. We love going to lLegendary Pokemon Raids and did a ton of them over the summer.

Any last words?It’s been much fun helping build up the Denver suburbs, working together with friends to try and make it a Munzee destination.We are so lucky that MHQ chose the Denver area to hold its 2016 Birthday Bash, leading to the deployment of thousands of virtuals all over the metro area. We locals continue to grow, grow, grow the area for each other as well as any who might travel through.

I am very flattered to have been nominated to be Player of the Week. Thank you to those who submitted my name!

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Kim Phillips (kpcrystal07).

Who are you?I am Kim Phillips, and my Munzee name is kpcrystal07.

Where in the world do you live?I live in the very small town of Brooksville, Florida USA, but originally I am from Chicago, Illinois.

How long have you played Munzee?Since December 2012.

How did you find Munzee?
I found Munzee while caching in December 2012.

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?My favorite part of the game is attending the events. I love seeing all of my friends and meeting new players. Also, I really enjoy earning the badges and capping all of the different specials.

What is on your wish list?After being in Texas and seeing all of the Texas Historical virtual markers, I think it would be a great idea to expand that same concept to other states and places.

Tell us about yourself!I’m married and have 2 grown daughters and a 15 year old son which keeps me super busy. Plus, I am a first time grandma to a beautiful baby boy which gives me more excuses to go to Texas.

Other hobbies include:
My hobbies consist of all of my son’s high school activities, taking care of my two precious dogs (shitzu), and my grandchild.

Any last words?I would like to thank everyone that helped me get through a very difficult time when my caching and Munzee best friend, Jeff Coppersmith (cusmith), passed away unexpectedly while doing what he loved best, capping munzees. R.I.P. Jeff! Thank you to all who nominated me for POTW. Keep on capping.